lights. It was, according to the weather-guessers, about the last un-
cloudy night in 10 days or more and it just felt right. We mooched
around for the rest of the day after setting up at the campground,
relaxing and just enjoying. At around 9pm we found the movie "V for
Vendetta" in our pile of movies that we have still never watched and
decided to see what it was all about. I gave Frank the inside seat so
that I was blocking him from getting out - he never finishes watching
a movie - always gets up and goes to bed literally 10 minutes before
it finishes! This drives me wild and I was determined to make him
watch it all the way to the very end this time. Anyway - so there we
are, both enjoying the movie when it stops. Hmmmm. Take out the
disk, put it in, try again. Nope. It stops in the same place again,
so Frank said he would try something, at which time I took the
opportunity to look out of the back window - and there it was and all
thoughts of the movie vanished! What movie?
A long drawn out, curvy 's', snaking across the sky - no color, just
cloudy white but not like a cloud at all - I just knew instantly and
grabbed my camera, tripod and dashed outside. Frank followed with the
jackets and a smile at my total attention to the night sky. It's
amazing. The green lights flicked, pulsated, turned and tumbled and
then stopped. They sneaked up behind us and started their waves going
there, teasing with the pinks and reds in the very tips of the
vertical shards of light they created, licking at the trees and the
distant nightlight too. You can see the stars at the same time and
its awesome to see the green coming up behind a tree. When it was
really quiet, I could hear the static that comes along with the lights
- many say its not real, but it is. I heard it last time as well as
this time.
There is no way to describe these lights but they make me think of a
very big lazy, contented whispy (and friendly) snake, gently
zigzagging across the sky. The brightness changes and there is never
a second that is the same as the one before. Then it changes to
humongous sheets of lights looking as if they are being gently flapped
across the night sky in huge vertical sheets. Last nights display was
not nearly as brilliant or large as the one we saw in 2006, but it
still misted up my eyes and had my mouth hanging open in total awe!
It takes about 10 -15 seconds to get a photo which is a loooong time
when stuff is changing and happening all around! Last night was
mostly green - brilliant green with the odd pink and blue and red here
and there, changing to a misty, swirling, star-dotted green that
snaked behind the rv's in the campground and the trees. At times
the color disappeared and there were just these very strange and half
eerie, white, misty broad strings across the sky, pulsating in and out
- always teasing and keeping me outside trying to walk quietly around
the other campers to get the best photos. I did stop and giggle once,
wondering what I must look like, sneaking around the rv's and I could
imagine some people keeping their 'security' close by just in case :)
I saw the neighbors looking at me when I first dashed outside with my
tripod and camera and I wondered at why they did not look out and see
the lights. They watched as I acted like a crazy woman going from the
front to the back of the rv, happily clicking away in really cold
temperatures, but did not come to see why. Maybe they had seen better.
When the lights got less bright, I would come inside, download those
pics to the computer and watch for more. The inside of the rv was in
total darkness, the laptop screen dimmed to its lowest level so that I
could see outside easier. I would quietly creep, in my crinkly
jacket, to the back of the rv where Frank was now sleeping and peer
out of that window, then out of the lounge window, then out of the
front ones and so on - every minute or so. Yup - Frank went to bed -
and I stayed awake till 4.15am! In one of my rather enthusiastic
dashes from window to window, I forgot that there is a tv cupboard
next to the door. THUD! My ears literally rang and I found myself
flat on my butt on the floor nursing a growing bump on my forehead!
Normal moving around in the rv would not entail getting close enough
to that cupboard, but it was not a normal night at all.
This is why we came this far north - for the northern lights - Aurora
Borealis........ its amazing that we actually got to see them.
Everything worked so well together to allow us to see this wonder
again and for me to get some lovely photos - 155 of them! Even the
loooong sleep of the night before..... These lights are another of
the things that really get me thinking, turn me inwards to a quiet
place. It makes me think of how much time is wasted chasing the
things that are not necessary in life, fighting the things that get us
nowhere. They make me see again how absolutely fortunate I am, not
only to see them, but to be able to dream about seeing them, being
able to put this adventure together and have someone with me that
loves the same things.
They make me see how small I am in the big picture of life and this,
in turn, sets me free from much of the stuff that clutters life. When
I stood outside last night, the only one out there watching this
amazing happening, my mouth literally open and my head turned to the
sky, I thought of so many people. So many people going through so
many hard times, sad times and also those going through the magical
years of their life. If it makes a difference - know that there is a
wish for you, riding on a beautiful green wave of northern lights, to
be gently deposited at your doorstep...... It's a really humbling
experience to stand below these lights. And its awesome. Totally
AWEsome
I have managed to load only two or three photos of the lights - the
connection here is too slow to do more. I will add more as soon as I
can.
This has been another totally amazing experience...... the images
still tumble around my mind and I am still trying to find the best way
to describe it all. Maybe soon.
Tonight we are in Hinton, Alberta, headed to the Icefield Parkway and
down south again. We have to find warmer days. You know how those
fancy trained horses walk at shows? As if their feet don't want to
touch the ground? That is exactly how Sophie walks, when we can get
her to move! So we are heading to northern Nevada to see if we can do
some opal mining...... who knows what we find there........ But
before that - we have that glorious Icefield Parkway ahead of us
again. Are we not fortunate that this is the quickest way south for us?
Still loving this........:)
Love and light
Annie
Picture link: http://photobucket.com/annieb
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